In 1980, Marvel assisted Toei in their second Sentai co-production, Denshi Sentai Denziman. At the time, Marvel desired Japanese shows based on the Incredible Hulk and the Silver Surfer, but with the success of Battle Fever J and the ease of creating another ensemble show, Toei chose to make another Sentai. In their final year of the three-year deal to use Marvel characters, Toei chose Hela, a villainess of the Norse God hero Thor, and used her look and color scheme for Denziman villainess Queen Hedrian, who would be portrayed by Machiko Soga.

1981's Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan was the final series to possess the Marvel copyright, but did not have any Marvel influence but may have due to the connection to previous season Denziman, including the return of Hedrian for a second season.

Planned Project

In 1983, an article from Marvel's Japanese division stated that they were interested in bringing Spider-Man and the three Sentai they produced; Sun Vulcan in particular, to America, and was looking at HBO as a potential candidate for airing the shows.[1]

However in 1985, Marvel Comics produced a pilot for an American adaptation of a Super Sentai series, which was rejected by the major US TV networks. Super Sentai would later be adapted into Power Rangers, created by Saban Entertainment in 1993.

References to Power Rangers from Marvel

In the X-Men episode "Juggernaut Returns", the new Juggernaut pursued the X-Men's Blackbird jet, and landed into a studio recording a Power Rangers-esque show.

Web of Scarlet Spider #4 (comic): When the New Warriors are fighting a phony Scarlet Spider who has managed to grow in size, Speedball referred to him as an "overgrown Spiderzord".

Spider-Man: The Final Adventures #4 (comic): While looking to return to the research company GARID, Spider-Man narrates to himself "Spiderzord Morphin' Action Time".

The Amazing Spider-Man #413 (comic): Spider-Man finds himself in what appears to be a child's bedroom, and finding himself to be the size of an action figure. He is attacked by several toys including one which resembles a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.

The Amazing Spider-Man #416 (comic): Coming upon a couple of kids getting into a fight, Spider-Man jokingly asks them if they are playing Power Rangers Zeo.

Spider-Man Unlimited #15 (comic): Upon being attacked by a creature called Raptar, Spider-Man jokingly figured that he was upset at not receiving a gift from Santa, and that he understood as he wanted a Gold Ranger figure.

Notes

In the Big Bad Beetleborgs episode "Convention Dimension", the Beetleborgs attend a comic convention with several attendees wearing costumes. One of the costumes worn was Spider-Man as Spider-Man The Animated Series was airing on Fox Kids at the time.

In 2009, Disney, which at the time controlled the Power Rangers franchise, purchased Marvel Comics, placing both franchises within the same company. However the combination was short-lived, with Saban repurchasing the rights of Power Rangers in 2010, including all of the Disney-produced seasons.

Despite Disney's ownership, however, Nicktoons aired both Wolverine & The X-Men and Iron Man Armored Adventures while airing Power Rangers.

Battle Fever J and it's continuum is placed within the Marvel Multiverse on Earth-79203.

Chronologically, due to sharing a same universe with Kamen Rider, Metal Heroes and other original TOEI Tokusatsu heroes series, the universe's first appearance in order are:

In an indirect connection between Marvel and Sentai; toy-group Mattel included the Varidreen and Varitank from Gorenger as part of the "Shogun Vehicles" within the Shogun Warriors toyline. The line, based on many of the giant robot anime of Toei, would likewise lead to a comic book by Marvel; however no Gorenger vehicles appeared in this book.[2][3]

This would make Varidreen and Varitank the first Sentai-related merchandise released in the US.

In the beginning of the first episode of Denji Sentai Megaranger, an arcade cabinet of Marvel and Capcom's game X-Men VS Street Fighter can be seen in the background when several kids are playing the Megaranger game. After Kenta Date and another teenager begin playing Megaranger a bit of gameplay is shown with Juggernaut (from X-Men) fighting against Vega (named M. Bison in the US).